Day: October 15, 2009

The story of the day was the Heene family in Colorado that launched a weather balloon, with 6-year-old Falcon possibly inside (but definitely not by the time the balloon landed about 90 miles later). They posed in front of a contraption and appeared on ABC's Wife Swap, with the TV program saying they were building a "flying saucer to send into the eye of the storm," and that the episode was "destined to become a classic!" The kid's name was Falcon? And Falcon and his brothers were in a music video?! Called "Pussified"?!?! Well. Yeah. Um. Clearly a wild, odd story, no matter how it turns out. Comedians were showing all sorts of emotions and takes on the saga as it was unfolding. Shock. Awe. Snark. Cynicism. Disbelief. Amid all of this, Aziz Ansari reminded us all that Human Giant taped a sketch for their MTV series that nailed it. Sort of. Witness the balloon cops of "Hot Air Balloon Patrol." Too soon? Prescient? Both? You tell me. Roll...

As a one-man comedy journalism band, sometimes I don't get to things as timely as I should, and other times things stack up on my desk and around my apartment, waiting for me to give them the proper attention they deserve here on The Comic's Comic. So when I do get to take a closer look, I'll do so with a new feature I'm calling Upon Further Review. Today: Bill Cosby. The Cos was on The Jay Leno Show last night. He took Kevin Eubanks to musical comedy school for not knowing his cues, and took Leno to interview school by talking about how his wife has him on Twitter. This is a true thing. You can follow Bill Cosby's Twitter @billcosby. You can watch the Cosby/Leno interaction for a limited time on Hulu. Here's a clip: But Cosby's appearance last night also is a good time to bring up some current/recent things he has been up to, all of which are worth your attention. For one, the Cos is going to be performing Saturday night in NYC for two shows, then sticking around the city for a livestream event on Monday night. Yes. Details? On Oct. 19, Cosby and the Cosnarati Band will kick off his "State of Emergency" CD event with a virtual town hall meeting via Ustream, beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern on urban radio station web sites...

This is Tracy Morgan's week, and we're all just living in it. Earlier this week, he hosted the VH1 Hip Honors for Def Jam Records in his native borough of Brooklyn. Tonight is the debut of the fourth season of NBC's 30 Rock, and it's also a few days before the release of Morgan's memoir, I Am The New Black. Gawker got its hands on an ad-lib reading from Morgan for the audiobook, in which he riffed his own revenge upon former SNL colleagues Chris Kattan and Cheri Oteri. Time magazine just did its own "10 Questions" with Tracy Morgan, which you can watch. Watch! It makes you wonder if Morgan is entertaining only when he's "crazy." Is that true? Watch this excerpt of Morgan talking about his book, and you'll see what I mean. You can read the introduction to Tracy Morgan's I Am The New Black, too. Want to order a copy? The book comes out Oct....

I'd write about how seriously Steve Martin has taken this banjo business, but I've already written that. So let me write this: Not long after establishing his own presence on the Internets, he's already figured out what rules the Internets — videos of kittens and puppies! Martin just so happened to have written a song on his banjo about his own dog, and now he's turning to you — yes, you — to upload your very own music video for his song, and if he likes it the bestest, you'll win $1,000. The rest of us will win thousands of new doggie videos. Read the rules on Steve Martin's Wally on the Run DailyMotion page. Hear him explain the contest right here, right now: Wally On The Run : A Message from Steve MartinUploaded by SteveMartin. – See the latest featured music...

On the Internets last night, comedian and Sirius XM sex talker Sara Benincasa asked her fans for a good Halloween costume idea. She was trying to decide between Mad Men TV characters Joan and Peggy, but open to other suggestions. Obviously, Benincasa has the ginger hair, the killer curves and sassy attitude to be Joan any day and night she desires, but she told me she thought she could pull off Peggy, too. After seeing her first attempt to show us how a Mad Men Peggy vlog would look like, I have to say, she's right! (Note: Contains language that is NSFW) Benincasa rocked the Internets in 2008 with her Sarah Palin impersonation. What do you think of her Peggy? (It probably helps if you watch Mad...